More White Sox ailing

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 20, 2007 at 6:02 PM

Chicago White Sox notebook.

Nathaniel Whalen

Add two more White Sox to the list of the walking wounded.
It is a slightly strained right quadriceps that has Jermaine Dye hobbled but playing, while Jim Thome was out of Tuesday night’s starting lineup because of a sore back.
“There are a lot of guys here banged up,” said Paul Konerko, the third member of the heart of the order who said the hamstring injury he tweaked a month ago is still nagging him.
“The hardest thing as a player is the chips are down and something comes up like that, you’re torn between doing what’s the right thing and not doing the right thing. No one wants to sit out because it looks like you’re backing out.”
An interesting choice of words, considering Thome’s predicament.
“Everything started when he played first base in Philadelphia (last week),” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “It started getting sore.”
Thome has had back problems since 2005, and does daily exercises. However, it has been a regular issue, and the Sox hope this current bout is something that won’t last too long.
“You have to be patient,” Guillen said of Thome, who said he woke up Tuesday feeling sore. “I would rather be careful with him for the next couple of days then miss him for the next 15 or 20 days.”
Guillen said the same about Dye, who was pulled from Monday’s game after he aggravated the quad while making a fourth-inning catch. Dye suffered the injury over the weekend in Pittsburgh.
“Right now, I’m gambling and rolling the dice with ‘J.D.,’ ” Guillen said.
The way Dye sees it, he doesn’t have a choice about playing.
“Either that or go on the DL,” Dye said. “I don’t want to go on the DL.”
Dye said the quad bothers him mainly while running, but there’s not much point in taking a little time off.
“I don’t think it will — with hamstrings and quads they just don’t go away,” Dye said. “You need time off. Two, three days won’t make a difference.”
“He has to help us to win and help his career,” Guillen said of the free agent-to-be. “If he’s not good enough to go out there, it’s something you can’t do anything about.”
Mistakes, Mistakes
Florida catcher Miguel Olivo picked rookie Josh Fields off second base in the seventh inning of Monday’s game. Later that inning, Olivo picked rookie Jerry Owens off first.
“It just makes us both look really bad,” Fields said. “We were talking about it, the two rookies screwed up not only in the game, but in one inning.”
Fields made another mistake in the first inning of Tuesday’s game when he dropped his head immediately after hitting a fly ball to center, thinking the ball would be caught. Instead, the ball carried an estimated 400 feet and landed in the bleachers for a three-run homer.
Where’s it Gone?
Monday’s starting pitcher, Jose Contreras, said he didn’t have his normal fastball.
When asked where it was, the Cuban right-hander joked, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s in Cuba. Maybe Fidel (Castro) has it.”
More Sox coverage can be found online at www.dailysouthtown.com/sports.